Collabora Delivers First RDK-Based Chrobalt Reference Platform for YouTube on Living Room Devices

Chrobalt Engine for Living Room Devices

YouTube's web engine for living room devices, such as Smart TVs and set-top boxes, has transitioned from classic Cobalt to Chrobalt. Classic Cobalt was a lightweight HTML5/CSS/JavaScript engine designed for resource-constrained embedded devices. Chrobalt represents a significant architectural shift, re-engineering Cobalt on top of Chromium to provide a more robust and standard-compliant rendering pipeline.

Collabora's Role in RDK Integration

Collabora collaborated with Google's YouTube Cobalt and Partner Engineering teams to deliver the first RDK-based Chrobalt reference platform. This platform is intended for third-party device manufacturers and OEMs, demonstrating the viability of this architectural evolution for their products. The project involved porting, integrating, and stabilizing Chrobalt within the RDK environment.

Addressing Resource Constraints

Historically, running a full Chromium browser on low-power devices like STBs and Smart TVs was challenging due to limited RAM and CPU. Cobalt was initially developed by Google to address these constraints by offering a minimal web standards subset optimized for media streaming. Chrobalt now combines the resource efficiency of Cobalt with the modern web capabilities of Chromium, using a Starboard porting layer.

Impact for Device Manufacturers

The availability of an RDK-based reference platform for Chrobalt is crucial for external device manufacturers. It provides a concrete example and framework for them to integrate the new YouTube engine into their products, ensuring compatibility and performance. This initiative aims to accelerate the adoption of Chrobalt across a wider range of living room devices.